Drew Tate understands full well that Scott Milanovich is the favourite to hoist the Annis Stukus Trophy at todays CFL coach-of-the-year luncheon in the Queen City.

After all, Milanovich is a rookie and he turned the once laughable Argonauts into Grey Cup champions in his first year at the helm.

Hard to top that, right?

“Milanovich did an exceptional job,” Tate, the Calgary Stampeders quarterback conceded Wednesday from his off-season home in Dallas. “The Toronto Argonauts, I know they hadn’t won a Grey Cup in a while, so what he did was pretty spectacular.

“He had lot of help though, when they got Ricky Ray.”

The votes for coach-of-the year are already cast, so no amount of campaigning can in any way sway Thursday’s announcement at the CFL congress.

But with all due respect to Milanovich and B.C. Lions head coach Mike Benevides, Tate is steadfast in his belief Calgary Stampeders head coach Hufnagel is the obvious winner.

And, for the record, currying favour with the boss has nothing to do with his opinion.

“Look at what he was able to do given all the injuries and given all the new players,” Tate said emphatically. “I don’t know, but I think (Dimitri) Tsoumpas might have been the only guy who started every game on our whole team.

“It’s special what we were able to accomplish given everything that happened to us.”

Injuries play part in every season for every football team. That much is a given. But a total of 72 different players graced the Calgary roster at one point or another last season.

The biggest calamity, of course, was Tate who separated his shoulder in Week 2 and then broke his forearm in the West Division semifinal. The laundry list of the wounded ranged from offensive tackle Edwin Harrison to wide receiver Johnny Forzani to defensive end Chris McCoy, to kick returner Larry Taylor and centre Jon Gott.

“I think we were the youngest team, and I think a good 40 to 60 per cent of the media people had us missing the playoffs out of the West,” said offensive co-ordinator Dave Dickenson. “And then we lose our starting quarterback in Week 2.

“Those are all things we had to overcome . . . And we still had post-season success, and we still had the most victories in the league.”

Indeed. Toronto went 12-9 last season. B.C. was 13-6 and Calgary was 14-7 overall. But the voting is conducted after the Grey Cup, and the vision of the jubilant Argos celebrating on the national stage is awfully compelling.

“Other leagues don’t hand the award out based on who won the Super Bowl or other things,” Dickenson said. “I think it’s about a compilation of the entire year.”

Looking at the entire year, Raymond still can’t believe the way the replacements took over from the starters — and the team kept winning.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” said defensive back Keon Raymond. “As a team, you’re only as strong as your leader is and the guys he brings around himself. We had a good coaching staff.

“Huff had trust in the young guys to step up.”

As head coach and general manager, Hufnagel strikes a delicate balance with his players. He cracks jokes in meetings. He makes it clear his door is always open.

But there is absolutely no question at McMahon that Hufnagel is the boss.

Full stop.

“Nobody cares more about his players than Huff does,” Tate said.

While Hufnagel is more concerned about building a contender for next season than adding an individual trophy to his collection, Tate, Raymond, and Dickenson would all like to see the boss recognized for his work in 2012.

“Hey Huff’s competitive,” Dickenson said. “That’s the thing about him. He’s not going to lose any sleep if he wins or loses, but he’s a very competitive guy. And that’s good. We like that.

“Personal awards aren’t why you’re in it, but they are nice validation. It’s not why you’re coaching, but I think it would be nice for him to get some accolades for the job he did.”

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